The Empress of Blandingspublic house in Copythorne, Hampshire has the unique honour of being the only building to be a member of the P.G Wodehouse society. The public house is named after the Empress of Blandings, a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse.

Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow(see images), who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Agricultural Show, and is subject of many plots and schemes, generally involving her kidnap for various purposes.

The pub is owned, appropriately enough, by the family-run brewery Hall and Woodhouse - one of the few remaining regional family brewers. They have been brewing their award-winning Dorset Badger ales and offering warm hospitality at their pubs for over 230 years.

Situated right on the edge of the New Forest National Park and only a few minutes’ drive from the M27, the Empress of Blandings is a shrine to all things Wodehouse and porcine – the walls are adorned with framed dust-jackets of Wodehouse’s books. The bookshelves groan with his assorted works, quotations about the famous pig abound and there are over 200 pig statuettes scattered throughout the pub.

Interestingly the inn sign for the Empress of Blandings is the only public house in the Hall & Woodhouse estate where the spelling is changed to “Hall & Wodehouse” and features a painting of a Berkshire taken from “The Pig - Breeding, Rearing and Marketing” by Sanders Spencer.

Boasting a beautifully restored interior, plenty of parking, secluded garden, legendary hospitality and conveniently located near Paultons Park, The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu and the picturesque village of Lyndhurstthe Empress is the perfect place for lunch, dinner and drinks.

Opening Times:

Monday - Saturday 11am - 11pm

Sunday 12 noon - 10.30pm

Food Service Times:

Sunday - Thursday: 12 noon - 9pm

Friday & Saturday: 12 noon - 9.30pm

Car Parking

We have on-site car parking for exclusive use of up to 50 of our Guests' vehicles.

Badger Beer Hampers

If you're at a loss which gift to buy the Real Ale Lover in your life... If you've got a birthday or event to buy a gift for and you've no idea where to start, why not grab one of our 'Badger Beer Hamper' boxes which contains a selection of 12 bottles of fantastic Badger Ales?

Empress Of Blandings, Services

Hall & Woodhouse Charity of the Year

Hall & Woodhouse Charity of the Year

Since 2011, Hall & Woodhouse have made a commitment to support a selected charity every 2 years. Any charity can apply to become our company charity; the key requirement being that the charity can demonstrate reasonable representation or operation across our trading region of the South of England - from Dartmoor in the West to Sevenoaks in the East.

If you would like to become our next charity you can be nominated by one of our houses or you can apply directly to Anthony Woodhouse, anthony@hall-woodhouse.co.uk using the attached form. For more information please download our charity brochure.

Our company charity is selected via nominations throughout the year, followed by a company-wide vote, which is held in March. All applicants and nominees will then be contacted to inform them if they have been successful. The winning charity will then be publicly announced in April.

The current Hall & Woodhouse Charity of the Year is Macmillan Cancer Support, who provides practical, medical and financial support and push for better cancer care (Charity Registration Number: 261017). There are two million people living with cancer today and their needs are not being fully met. By 2030 there will be four million people living with cancer, and we need to do more to help everyone affected by cancer get the support they need from their local Macmillan team.

So as a company we are grateful for the opportunity to give something back to such a great cause, as it supports so many people in our communities, and is a topic close to the hearts of many of our guests and team members. Every year we are extremely proud of the fundraising effort in our houses, and how we can make a real difference to our chosen charity.